


crossed lines and loose ends

by gaytimetraveller



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: yes im still in khux hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 02:18:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17255777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaytimetraveller/pseuds/gaytimetraveller
Summary: After the end, and everything that led up to it.(aka some small snapshot fics of khux speculation and theories i want to get out there before the game crushes them all viciously)





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes im still in khux hell i really really really am, i feel like its the pinnacle of my taste for me to simultaneously be really into a mobile game and also a game that doesn't exist that's just how it is on this bitch of an earth i suppose
> 
> anyways enjoy some disjointed small khux fics about Various Certain Possible Speculations That Don't All Work Together, if anyone wants to have fun guessing exactly what those are have at it just know that i fear actual kh canon will never be as good as the ventus' minecraft server theory

Lauriam was a smart child; he hadn’t gotten his role for nothing after all. He was an articulate boy, the kind that someone would have pinned as some kind of leader, maybe not the one in charge of it all but certainly someone who could certainly effectively direct others. He was well versed in both combat and conversation, maybe not perfect, definitely not yet a perfectionist, but well off enough. But he was certainly smart.

So when Master Ava had pressed the Book into his hands, his eyes had lit up and he had known what he had to do. She had given him a role shortly thereafter anyways, and he knew just how to fulfill it.

It had been easy, in the chaos of the war, to accomplish what he needed. There had been children going everywhere, wielders in all directions, mostly undirected. Some staying, some going. He remembered giving a sympathetic smile to a young boy with a strained one who was attempting to help navigate and calm the general hullabaloo.

As he briskly made his way up to the tower, a skip in his step, he watched another boy run down the steps of it without so much of a glance his way. He slowed for a moment, watching in idle amusement as he practically barrelled his way through the crowds, waving one hand in the air. No one was even around to notice when he slipped inside the door. In fact, the door was still left swinging opened, he assumed from that boy who’d been in such a hurry.

Lauriam even hummed to himself as he went up the steps, one hand casually trailing up the railing. He had never been in the tower before, it was forbidden of course, but between his little chat with Master Ava and the contents of a certain Book he figured he knew well enough where he was headed.

It did take a few wrong turns and dead end hallways, but he managed to find himself where he meant to be. He almost tiptoed into the room, perhaps a little wary that a Foreteller or two may have been sticking around despite the war that was certainly starting by now, but it was both empty and deathly silent.

To be quite frank, it was a bit of a mess. He discreetly shoved stray papers left strewn around under tables, tried to neaten up even the slightest bit, well aware that he wasn’t the only one who would be back here. Although it wasn’t like the Foretellers would be around to know the difference.

With a satisfied smile he pulled the Book he’d been holding in his vest out of it’s little hiding spot and planted it firmly on a table. He even dusted off his hands a little once it was in place, then took a moment to survey his work before turning away. Well enough, he thought. Simple, easy, lovely handiwork for the easiest kind of job. Maybe not exactly how the Foretellers had left it, but they wouldn’t be finding that out anyways.

He even made sure to carefully close the door behind him, just as it had been before. Going back down the steps was a quicker affair, as brief glances out windows seemed to show that although chaos was still running rampant in Daybreak Town, it was starting to die down a little bit now. The ones who would leave for good must have been mostly gone now. Better to get out sooner than later.

He snuck back down the steps outside, silent but quick, and only really relaxed once he’d hit some little backstreet identical to a thousand others around town he’d been in before. Lauriam smiled as his pace slowed to a stop and he tried to figure out exactly where in town he was.

Now that things seemed to be settling a little, with the war soon underway and the Dandelions taking off, there was no better time to go have a quick look for his little sister. She was surely with the Dandelions, but...it would be best to check.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yknow that picture of spiderman pointing at the other spiderman that's this one in essence

The first time Blaine and Skuld had met hadn’t actually been with the Dandelions. In all truth, it hadn’t exactly been on good terms either.

It had been an afternoon, much like any other, yet utterly unlike any other that would come before or after it. Skuld had stepped in through an opened door, keyblade in hand, ready for what she believed was waiting for her. And there, in that half-lit place, stood...a wielder she had never met.

One she would later learn was named Blaine.

And Blaine, well, Blaine had been waiting there already. He had stood near the back, keyblade in hand, ready for what he had believed was coming, and in had walked...a wielder that was vaguely familiar, but not familiar enough to know.

He would not so much later find out she was named Skuld.

The two of them had stood there, almost awkwardly, neither bothering to dismiss their keyblades. Blaine almost wanted to scratch his head in confusion, unsure of how this had happened when by all rights the light should have been too dim, and Skuld had stood there, half-lit in the sunlight coming in from the door, unsure of what this boy was doing in a place she had believed was empty. It was supposed to be empty.

Neither was sure why it wasn’t empty, but both were sure they were not facing what they believed was coming. There was no way this was mere coincidence, they both had to be there for the same reason, had to have the same idea.

Awkwardly, Blaine started to inch his way away, and Skuld started to back out the door, neither of them breaking their stare. Once she was outside, Skuld whirled around and paced away with the most befuddled kind of look, wondering if she had perhaps gone to the wrong place, and Blaine backed up further and ended up falling over an empty crate with a dry  _ crash _ .

Neither had ever mentioned it to anyone else. Had never spoken of it, never brought it up again. But that day, in the Keyblade Graveyard, when they had met once again, Blaine narrowed his eyes under his hat, and Skuld had kept a wary gaze on him as he spoke. Neither could be entirely sure of the other’s intentions, and it would be too dangerous to ask. Some would have said that maybe their encounter should have brought them together, perhaps under a common goal, or under the knowledge of each other’s possible intentions, but that wasn’t the case here at all.

There was simply the fact that they both knew that the other was not to be trusted.


	3. Chapter 3

Skuld had never quite understood why Ventus had been chosen. Her first impression of him had been that he was young, very young, not to mention clueless to go along with it. If she was being cruel, she would have called him a weak link. She wouldn’t say it, but she suspected at the the very least Blaine thought as much; Ephemera and Lauriam only seemed to be a bit protective of him to some degree. Ephemera was too kind, too optimistic to ever say such a thing, and Lauriam was perhaps too polite and agreeable.

Either way, when she thought about who had been chosen, Ventus remained an enigma to her. For the most part, the Dandelions in general were something of the cream of the crop, wielders who were strong and light enough to survive the end of it all, or at least wielders who had potential, or some kind of unique or helpful skill to aid them. But, little neophyte union leader Ventus was like a puzzle box to her.

He didn’t seem to have any friends, so he hadn’t been brought in by anyone else. No ranks or titles to his name, he wielded his blade in a way even she would call strange and seemed to lack much skill or technique with it; he even struggled to keep up with reading their guidebooks. She felt a bit bad for him, almost wanted to help him, but had a feeling that he might not accept as much. It wasn’t like it would get her anywhere anyways.

Then, a few days into their little adventures, Skuld had finally encountered Ventus alone. He was wandering around the tower at night, curled in on himself, almost as if hiding himself in the shadows. Occasionally, he would stop and stare out a window, up at the moon and the light it cast in. Somehow, that fit him.

She watched him go for a few quiet moments from a shadow of her own, and tilted her head at how he walked so silently yet aimlessly. If she hadn’t been as alert as she tended to be during her many sleepless nights, she would have missed him. Maybe it was the lack of shoes. His shoes were loud and clunky at best, in all honesty they were a bit funny.

Then, she shifted, as if to step forward, and without much prompting at all he looked up at her, bright eyes meeting her own. She almost gasped at the strange, unexpected intensity of his gaze, and at how quickly he had noticed her once she had moved.

Ventus opened his mouth wordlessly, looking still half asleep despite how bright his eyes were. Skuld remained frozen in place, as if trapped by this small boy with the big eyes. For a moment, she felt as if he could see  _ through _ her, and it made whatever was in her veins freeze. There was this feeling, as if this sleepy boy could see everything, unravel everything, but then he smiled shyly, and that had that feeling go up in smoke and vanish.

Skuld took a deep breath, forcing her face to soften into a smile of her own.

“Do you have trouble sleeping too?” Ventus whispered, stumbling over his words just a touch. He was young, Skuld thought, so young. For what purpose had he been chosen so young?

“Yeah,” she breathed, willing her voice to remain soft and not turn rattled or harsh as it tended to under the darkness.

“I’m headed to the kitchen,” he said, almost secretively. She nodded after a moment, somehow not quite believing he had originally had a destination at all and had instead just pulled that one out of a hat. But she didn’t think little Ventus had it in him to lie, he was almost painfully honest, she just had to believe him.

He smiled a little more and turned away, and Skuld finally allowed her shoulders to drop. Here she was, with yet another mystery to add to the continuing enigma that was Ventus. At least now she knew she didn’t want to trifle with him, there was something about him that still sent a vague chill up her spine, and every instinct screamed that despite how honest he seemed, he was hiding something, maybe something dangerous. He had to be, for it to be affecting her like this. Unless her sleepless nights were really starting to get to her.

Still, as she watched him go down the hall, his shadow growing as he went, not really listening to what he was saying as she followed behind, she thought that maybe he was just young. Maybe she was mistaken, maybe he really was just young and dumb, maybe it was just her own paranoia from these last few days, maybe it was just the Darkness playing its’ tricks on her.

(But the Darkness didn’t play tricks on her, not now.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this doesn't really have to do with ventus' minecraft server theory at all but i swear someday ill write smth small for that because honestly its a good one and im sure at this point everyone knows i love to write small and maybe ominous fics


	4. Chapter 4

After what had felt like a long day’s work, it was nice to be able to sit back and relax. Ephemera kicked his legs up against the desk he’d spent the greater part of a day bunched up against, and which Ventus was now asleep against. Skuld had left the two of them there to go get drinks and possibly snacks, which Ephemera figured were well deserved after a day of being cramped up at the computer.

It turns out, complex data simulations did not in fact entirely run themselves.

And unfortunately, both Skuld and Ephemera weren’t exactly the most help with them. Thankfully, it wasn’t like it all needed a huge amount of upkeep, mostly it was just checking to make sure things ran smoothly, but still. Skuld wasn’t altogether that savvy with computers at all, having not even touched one until recently, and for all he may have been bright and had spent a good few hours trying to learn, Ephemera’s head tended to start spinning once they got past anything decently basic. The smart thing to do would’ve been to call someone like Blaine, or maybe even Lauriam, they were both sharp and probably had some kind of knack for it or at least a better grasp.

But they’d both been busy, which had led to the other two coaxing Ventus over to a computer. Now, the funny thing was, neither figured Ventus would be much help either. He was young, he wasn’t the most booksmart person in their little group, but he’d at least make a decent moral support. He was certainly upbeat enough. It was maybe a little bit of a shock when they both found out Ventus most certainly had a certain knack for numbers and code that far surpassed anything they’d seen him do with words.

For the most part, Ephemera and Skuld had simply watched Ventus do all the work, and even if they did have to occasionally give input of their own or help him out with something it was a lot better than trying to do it themselves, which had felt more like hitting their heads against a brick wall. He practically flew through lines of code that had taken the two of them what felt like forever to figure out.

They’d even managed to have a bit of time to fool around with the data once they’d finished what needed to be done. Skuld ended up convincing Ventus to whip up some kind of new project, with Ephemera egging them on, as always.

By the end of the evening, Ventus had managed to throw together half of something that the likes of which neither Ephemera or Skuld had ever seen. It was some kind of new location simulation, one that wasn’t something out of the Book, or any other place they’d ever been to. Ventus said he saw it once, somewhere; maybe in a dream.

Ephemera had noticed the way he’d fidgeted when he said that. Something to question later, he supposed.

And, well, it was certainly dream-like. Even only halfway thrown together, far from polished, it was a beautiful blue sky world. But it wasn’t blue skies in the way a tropical beach was, or in the way a desert was, but instead a world made of grand structures and bright crystal clear skies, and the kind of architecture that seemed welcoming yet formal, or maybe more picturesque than formal. Like a true fairy tale storybook town, complete with a castle and all.

Except he’d run out of steam before actually thinking up of and making much of a castle, so a quaint storybook town it was. Skuld had seemed the most charmed by it, practically itching to actually get in and have a look around.

They could do a beach next time, he said. Or maybe a nice forest, something kinder than the ones in the Woodlands, like the kind that one could find in a children’s book. Something where they could actually turn it into a full projection, one they could visit, for fun. Ventus had some kind of idea for some type of game thing too, something about blocks? The way he explained it seemed fun too.

In all honesty, Ephemera was a bit excited about the idea of having something to relax. Even if it couldn’t be a priority, more of a little pet project really, it would still be nice.

Beside him, Ventus stirred in his sleep, and Ephemera absently reached underneath his scarf to scratch at the back of his neck. He could swear if he ran his fingers over the back of his neck it almost felt like—

Skuld abruptly kicked open the door, a grin on her face and three hot chocolates in her hands. Ephemera jolted and had his hands in his lap in moments as she bounded over.

“The computer genius still taking a nap?” Skuld said, motioning with her elbow as she set the drinks down on the desk.

“Mmhm,” Ephemera smiled and picked up his drink. “Thanks.”

As Skuld sat down, Ventus stirred in his sleep again, mumbling something neither of them caught. Ephemera sat back with his drink, not bothering to set down the mug to scratch the recurrent itching at the back of his neck. Skuld smiled pleasantly as she sipped at her own, and he smiled back, holding in every query he knew she’d have no answer to.

Questions for later, he supposed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really honestly love to think that ventus is in fact immensely good at some kinds of science and computers he just has trouble with words and reading but numbers and such? he's really good at them, a smart science boy who is my son who i love


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one feels a bit jumbled but honestly that might be in its favour? its 3 in the morning and i have a whole lot of thoughts about ephemera between that khux update and the big theory like just so many thoughts i am perishing but hey! he might not be dead! thats my hot take (actually i have a lot of khux hot takes right now like just a wild amount of hot takes)
> 
> heads up for possible vague kh3 spoilers? its more-so that i had em in mind writing this one than actual direct spoilers

Ephemera had always been someone who paid more attention than the rest. Not exactly in the broad sense, especially seeing as he tended to be the kind of guy who missed the forest for the leaves, but he still saw a lot, noticed a lot, always in the details everyone else missed. It was a strength, and it was a downfall.

He valued his particular insights, enjoyed seeing the things no one else did and piecing together puzzles no one else understood the value of, but this time it would be his fatal mistake. He watched with wary eyes as Lauriam introduced his friend to Skuld, and she pleasantly shook hands with the girl. They were leaving soon.

The future seemed like an exciting prospect, or at least it should have. Ephemera couldn’t shake the feeling that something was  _ wrong _ . They were missing something, there was some missing piece to everything here, something big. And he had a suspicion of exactly what it was. They shouldn’t be leaving,  _ they shouldn’t be leaving _ .

They’d found the traitor, they said. Leave the traitor in the past, they said. It was the imposter, they said. They’d head to the future, maybe not as planned, but it was a better prospect than staying here in this crumbling past, they said.

Ephemera had a horrible suspicion they’d pinned the wrong person. Sure, what Blaine had done hadn’t been something easily forgivable, but at the same time he suspected there was more to this than just him. There was something  _ off _ . Not just about Blaine, but about the whole situation with him. Something itched at the back of his mind, something he should’ve known, something one of the others had to know, he was almost sure.

He turned away from Lauriam and Skuld and whipped around, winding around a few corners to find Ventus. It didn’t take long. He was sitting outside, watching the sky from the cobblestones, something akin to a troubled look on his face. He didn’t say anything when Ephemera sat down next to him, just looked his way with a semi-pleasant smile.

After a few quiet moments of staring up at the near starless sky, he turned to Ventus. “Hey, Ven?”

“Yeah?”

“...Do you know anything about the Book of Prophecies?”

Ventus froze.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, they were getting ready to leave. Ephemera stretched and looked out at Daybreak Town, or what was left of it. They had no idea if anything of it was left in the future; generally they had no idea what they were getting into, and that should’ve been exciting. He could only dread it.

There was a knock on the doorframe, and he tensed and spun around on reflex from too many years of fighting Heartless, but it was just Skuld. She smiled, familiar and giggly and silly and he smiled back. It was weak.

“Can we talk for a few minutes?”

“Yeah, sure,” he tried his best to sound enthusiastic, to not let the creeping fear show. She never acknowledged it, never let on that she saw the slip in his demeanour, only smiled wider.

 

* * *

 

Later that day, when they were leaving, slowly scattering to the winds as they had been intended to, Ephemera watched the others go. Soon enough, it was only the two of them left.

“Ready?” it was spoken with a laugh, and his own responding laugh was nervous.

“As I’ll ever be,” he tried to solidify his smile. Things should be going smoothly, were going smoothly, but the dread still hadn’t left.

“May your heart be your guiding key.”

Before he could respond, there were hands pushing at his chest, and he was falling, falling,  _ falling _ . He dropped without even catching himself. The last thing he saw was a familiar smile and a turning back, going where he was supposed to be.

He never actually hit the cobblestones. It all suddenly went black and he drifted in that unfortunately familiar space. By the time he woke up, everyone was gone. Not that it would matter. He still scrambled to his feet, desperate as he glanced around the world.

They must have known, they must have realized that he’d figured it out, that he’d known, that he’d pieced together that Blaine hadn’t been the end of it, would never be the end of it. That he’d known about the Book, and about something it said. And now they were in the future, they knew and they were in the future and they were taking his place, and there was a fair chance no one would ever know.

He started to panic. His own attempts to figure it all out and fix things before it was too late had been his own downfall. But now he was  _ here _ . He’d been here before, unfortunately, and there was barely anything he could  _ do _ . He paced back and forth almost frantically, boots whipping up dust from the ground. He went until he tired himself out, let himself fall back onto the hard ground, frowning up at the sky.

Well. He had better pack in for the long haul. He doubted he would be getting out of here by himself any time soon.


End file.
